Penny Mobiles – Mobile phone news, reviews & information

Nokia launches 3 new CDMA handsets (6316s, 3806, 1506). Each of these brand new handsets, are reasonably priced and offer different things in terms of features.  The 6316s will likely to be the most expensive of the three. Nokia has included many of the features found in top to mid midrange smartphones, but priced the 6316s considerably cheaper.  The 3806 offers many of the same things as the 6316.  One noted difference, however, between the 3806 and the 6316s is the health assistant application. This app is designed to help individuals take control of their health.  The 1506 appears to be a very bare-bones phone. It might be a good option for individuals that aren’t interested in spending a lot of money on a mobile phone but still want a decent brand.  Users will have basic phoning functions. They will also be able to record their voice and talk on speakerphone.

The Nokia 6316s has a 2.2 QVGA display screen, a music player, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, a 2.0 megapixel camera, dedicated music keys and a music player. Individuals will also be able to check and receive e-mail and browse the internet.  This phone comes in red, gold and black.  It is scheduled to be released during the first quarter of 2010.

The Nokia 3806 is quite similar to the 6316s in many regards.  It also has a 2.0 megapixel camera and a 2.2 inch QVGA screen. Individuals can add up to 4GB of memory via the microSD card slot.

The Nokia 1506 has the least features and will likely be the cheapest of the three. It comes with a voice recorder and speaker phone. It can be purchased in black or plum.  This particular phone is scheduled to be available for sale by the end of 2009 in China. That’s just a few short weeks away.  The other two are scheduled to hit retail stores during the first part of 2010.

The Blackberry Pearl 9100 has yet to be launched but already there has been a lot of buzz surrounding its eventual release.  Many people either in the industry or who follow it, are excited to see how the company follows up with its previous BlackBerry Pearl products. RIM (Research In Motion), the manufacturer and designer of the product line, has recently launched the Bold 9700 and the Storm 2 and seems to be continuously rolling them out. With new products must come some obvious differences, upgrades or downgrades, right? Otherwise why bother? Lets’ take a look at some of the rumored features of the 9100:

By all reported accounts, the Pearl 9100 will have 3G capabilities, a camera with LED flash and an optical trackpad.  It won’t use the trackball found in other phones made by RIM. Another rumored upgrade is the phone’s SureType design. The Pearl 9100 came with a QWERTY keyboard. There is some talk that the mobile phone’s battery will be different as well. Hopefully, it will give the phone more juice, enabling it to last longer so that it doesn’t require re-charging as often. Most people dread phones which quickly die out. Not that this has been an issue for the Blackberry series, just a general observation.

As stated above, not much detail is currently available concerning the Blackberry Pearl 9100 because the phone has not yet been released. More will be likely forthcoming as the manufacturer decides to make it available to the public. This might not be too long from now. Until that time, us techies will simply have to scrounge around for information and then report what we can find. From what we have gathered, it looks like the Pearl 9100 will be a good addition to the RIM mobile phone family.

Music phones have been on the rise for a long time now. Many varying phone companies have produced phones with different music varieties, from DJ packages and mixing software, to music creation software and music editing tools. Many of these phones have done very well for themselves, but many have failed. The new Samsung phones the M2310 and the M2350 are specially designed to give you a great music experience, whilst not digging too deep into your pocket. Both phones featuring integrating music control systems, and 3.5mm jacks, the phones can be used to mix music and create some great sounding tunes.

The M2310 features a 2.0megapixel camera, ideal for taking snaps of favorite gigs or music events. You can later transfer the photos to your computer by using the lead socket on the phone, or if you are lucky enough to have blue tooth enabled on your computer, you can use the phones blue tooth functions to transfer it across. With a built in FM radio, you will always have things to listen to, and you can tune in to all your favorite channels, including Radio 1, Radio 2, Classic FM and many more. The phone also comes with a tracking device, which enables you to track your phone in the unfortunate event that it is stolen or lost.

The M2350 is a slider phone meant to awe music lovers. Coming with 15MB internal memory, blue tooth functions and GPRS, you will always be able to stay in contact with friends and family, or to perhaps organize your upcoming gig.

So if you want a great music phone, then wait and see for the release date of these two, they are sure not to disappoint.

Sony Ericsson is taking the lead in the effort to drive the industry towards greener solutions. The GreenHeart phone series sports some of the most impressive standards for manufacturing a mobile phone in the most eco-friendly way possible. While a vast majority of devices have yet to be produced with these same standards, the slowly growing GreenHeart series is a testament that shows that it can be done.

New to the series are the Elm and Hazel 3G smart phones. These two unassuming and sleek-looking Sony gadgets may seem like your typical modern mobile phone, but checking the manufacturing specs shows how much green –innovation has been put into the devices.

First off, the phones are made of at least 50% recycled plastics. The actual percentage is actually higher but it seems that there is no accurate way to pinpoint the precise amount. This goes a long way in lowering the need for new plastics as the amount of raw material to be processed for just one phone has been reduced to half. Another interesting feature is that the paint and finish of the phones make use of water-borne solutions without chemicals; in fact, GreenHeart phones are made no harmful chemicals at all.

Anyway, both phones pack 3G HSDPA capabilities and 5 mega pixel cameras to boot. The snappers are loaded with auto focus and LED flash while the screens both have a resolution of 320 x 240 (the Elm has a 2.2 inch screen while the Hazel has a 2.6 inch display).

Of the two devices, the Hazel looks more stylish with its sleek slider-phone form while the Elm is more of a traditional looking candy bar device.

The only thing missing now is an early pre-Christmas launch date. Still, those of us who would like to get these phone do not have long to wait for, Sony has confirmed that both devices will launch next year with the Elm on Q1 2010 and the Hazel on Q2 with the rest of the new year’s Sony Ericsson deals.

Nokia have released details of many new handsets over the last month or so. The 2 main phones, the 6700 and the 7230 are both slide phones which are designed to make life easier for you whilst using the internet, and especially social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Both phones come in a variety of different colors meaning that neither phone is restricted to a certain sub genre of users.

The Nokia 7230 is specially designed to be used with social networking sites. It features direct programs which take you straight to the sites, rather than having to do it through an internet browser, which can take up a lot of time. The handset will light up when you are receiving an incoming call or message, which is very useful for situations where noise and lighting may not be on your side. With a 2.4 inch screen, a 3.2 megapixel camera and 3G technology, you really will have a fantastic phone with amazing capabilities.

The 6700 slide phone is a much more stylish version, and comes complete with a 5.0 megapixel camera. That is a lot of megapixels for a phone camera, and rivals some of the well known digital cameras at the high end of the market. With built in photo editing technology, you will be able to edit and touch up any photos you take, perfect if you want to show off some great snaps to friends and family.

If you want to get your hands on one of these fantastic slide phones, you will have to wait until march 2010, but it will be well worth the wait. Both phones are expected to be available on pay as you go and contract tariffs, and should be available on various different networks.

To target the ever rising amount of female customers that mobile phone companies are dealing with, Samsung thought of a unique way to attract attention, create a stylish range of phones and make their phones unique and stand out from the rest. The diva range. This new diva range incorporates style and fashion with performance and capabilities. The phones look fantastic, sound great and deliver fantastic picture quality whilst being economical, hard working and very fast. This is partly down to hardware changes and new software being implemented by Samsung.

The S5150 Olivia features a 2.2 inch screen, perfect for viewing videos, pictures and and anything else that you would prefer a large screen compared to a small one. The phone comes with lights that light up at certain events chosen by you. These can include a new message, a new email, a new instant message and the list goes on. The S5150 also has a music player, blue tooth connectivity and boasts fast access to the internet to sites such as twitter, facebok and myspace.

The Samsung S7070 compliments a large 3 inch touchscreen. The whole phone is controlled by the touchscreen, and this gives you amazing freedom to operate whatever you want. Like the Olivia, the phone features blue tooth connectivity, a music player and a camera. One of the main perks of this particular model is the photo correcting software. This program can help eliminate flaws in your photos, and can change an ordinary looking photo into a masterpiece.

So if you are a “diva”, and want to become a Diva with style, consider purchasing one of these models. Due for release in early 2010, they will complete your look.

There have been quite a few leaks for the HTC recently, as mobile phone enthusiasts would have noticed the leakage of their 2010 Roadmap spread like wildfire across the gadget communities on the internet. As more details emerge of the latest Android phone of the Taiwanese mobile giants, we have discovered that the HTC Bravo has actually surfaced to be the same device as the leaked handset named Passion.

The big news for the HTC phone fans first appeared in DigiTimes, which hold that the Bravo would be introduced as HTC Passion in the US markets in the first month of the year 2010. While the US users would be able to access the Android-run handset, it will not be any sooner than the end of April 2010 that the phone will reach the shelves of the European markets by the name of Bravo on T-mobile.

The HTC Bravo, or Passion, if you will, will be one of the more than 60% of HTC handset models to be released in the year 2010 that will be featuring the Android operating system. This according to the leaked HTC Roadmap will be the strategy for the next year, while the Windows Mobile phones will make up even lesser than 40% of the planned releases. Many pundits are watching the expected release of the HTC Bravo as a significant step from HTC to the gradual replacement of Windows Mobile phones with Android phones.

Just as we adjust our minds to the news of Bravo and Passion being one, it is rather ironical as analysts on the internet were speculating about the 3.5”size of Passion’s screen, and reporting that HTC may delay it for refining its software. The new leaks report the Bravo to be featuring a 3.7” AMOLED touch-screen which clearly varies from the earlier rumors. But despite the contradictions and the fact that Passion and Bravo are the same handsets or not, if the device appears in January 2010, it will not be long before you come to hear the truth about the latest HTC Android phone.

One of the world’s leading music discovery providers, Shazam announced recently the release into the market of an improved application in the Ovi store by Nokia. The software, according to the company, comes with newly added feature that will give users of Nokia device the edge when it comes to journey into music more than it used to be in the past.

According to Andrew Fisher, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the company, “with the popularity os Shazam on the Ovi Store by Nokia following our summer promotion, we are delighted to be able to offer an enhanced music journey that will let music lovers experience more about the music they hear around them”. Furthermore, he said that “Now many Nokia users will get shazam pre-loaded onto their devices in the future, and hundreds of millions more worldwide will be able to download Shazam now from the Ovi store by Nokia.”

The Shazam application supports a lot of languages which includes: German, Canadian-French, Latin American, Swedish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Turkish, Dutch, Russian, Bulgarian, Mexican Spanish, Spanish, French, Brazilian, Finnish, Brazilian-Portuguese and plans are still underway by the company to introduce support for the Chinese simplified and traditional, polish, Roman, Bulgarian, Arabic, Hebrew and Ukrainian in the future.

Lovers of this software can enjoy this software for a maximum of 30 days and should they desire to keep enjoying it, they would have to purchase the full version at $4.99 or switch to the free alternative which does not come with the full functionalities of the paid version.

The new version has some very interesting features that will get users stuck to it. These features include: Sharing capabilities for those on the social networks like Tweeter and Face book, an access to the exciting list of tags that online, search music easily like finding artist by name or album among others.

Samsung the South Korean Phone Maker announced on Wednesday the launch of its new Pocket Media Software solution into the Latin American Market. This is in partnership with Ubitus Inc., which is a leader in the software platform sector for fixed-mobile convergence applications. The performance will be during the ongoing month.

This new solution introduced by Samsung of South Korea is coming to the Latin American market with integrated cloud technology from Ubitus. The new Pocket Media has the capacity to easily outpace Media codec/formats’ barriers, while also being developed to adapt “Live/instant content” to the network while also delivering optimized experience to all users.

According to Samsung, the new Pocket Media is aimed at enabling users “Pocket all of their Media Entertainment.”  This also means that Mobile Phone users can enjoy while on the move content sharing from their home Computers, from friend’s computer or even Mobile Phones. These contents include videos, music, photos, the company also states.

Samsung also announced that the Pocket Media comes preloaded on its Samsung Omnia II (I800) Mobile Phone, powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 professional operating system. The handset is said to deliver the largest Touch screen display ever available in Brazil on any Mobile Phone. It is however worthy of mention that this will only be the debut of Pocket Media in the area, as Samsung intends to include it in other Samsung devices in various other regions, remarked the Phone maker.

The Pocket Media now supports input and output codecs which include FLV, WMV and 3GP among others. Mainstream image and music formats can also be shared inside. Users of the Pocket Media can also retrieve the contents in their computers at home via Samsung Mobiles get contents from buddies and chat with buddies’  mobiles or computers all through streaming or downloading Samsung stated.

For many mobile phone users, the name Motorola conjures up an image of a former world leader that has miserably failed in the presence of a more user-friendly Nokia in their early years and lately with a string of disappointing handsets that are copycats of previous success stories like its pioneering RAZR line.  But the image aside, it looks like Motorola is seeing a resurgence of its former self by making the rights moves, like adopting Android without batting an eyelash and bringing impressive handsets to its markets.  It just recently launched is Motorola DROID in the US and soon-to-be-released Motorola Milestone in Europe in time for the holidays.

Remarkable Features

The DROID may have features that can give would-be iPhone buyers some pause, most pundits are saying this is the phone that just might catapult the Android handset as a mainstream mobile phone to reckon with, not to mention the fact that this is the world’s first smartphone on the Android 2.0 platform.  It is also the world’s thinnest full QWERTY slider touchscreen at a mere 13.5 mm thickness.

Hardware wise, the Motorola DROID boasts the same 3G/UMTS and HSPA broadband data connectivity as well as WiFi and Bluetooth features of most other flagship phones.  Even its 5.0 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, geo tagging and DVD-quality video recording puts it the top of the imaging totem pole.  Other features like GPS, A2DP support, micro SD expandability up to 16GB, 3.55mm headphone jack and a gorgeous 3.7” capacitive touchscreen display with wide VGA resolution are shared with many other upscale handsets.

But what really sets the Motorola DROID apart is its Google and Verizon backing. You have Google apps working on its Google Android OS as well as a Google Maps navigation system that’s not only free by is as capable as any spoken turn-by-turn guidance system out there.

Then you have the nearly flawless voice and data network of Verizon behind it.  Everything is working in favour of the DROID to give Motorola the break it needs to recapture its market leadership.